Friends,
I’m a big UFC fan and was kind of starstruck to meet Chuck Liddell on a flight last week. Perhaps I will see the Iceman again at UFC 300 in Vegas next weekend. There are some great matchups on the docket, but the real stacked card is going to be at MacroMinds on May 23rd in NYC.
Let me tell you about what we are doing and why I hope you can be part of it.
Mission Driven Collaboration
MacroMinds is a mission driven investment symposium that brings the buy-side, sell-side and allocator community together for an inspiring and productive day of collaboration and discussion. As we come together to interact as an industry of market professionals, we support critical charitable initiatives focused on student education. This event, our fourth, will support Girls Who Invest, the San Miguel Academy, and Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities.
The Venue
We’re hosting the symposium again at the Times Center in NYC. It’s a truly fabulous event space. Click that last link and you will quickly see why.
The Speakers and the Stacked Card
Greek philosopher Heraclitus told us (a mere 2500 years ago) that “there is nothing permanent except change.” This really resonates with me when it comes to markets. And each year, as I’ve sought to create a compelling program for MacroMinds, I start with the laundry list of questions I have on the economy, policy, risk, innovation and how all of these interact with the broad mosaic of asset prices and exposures. Last year at this exact time, the Fed was projected to hike twice more. The market got that correct. But the market also had the Fed not only undoing those two hikes but cutting nearly 4 times by the end of Jan’24. Nope. There appears similar tension emerging in the “higher for longer” idea again.
Last year at this time, NVDA was worth $1.5 trillion less than it is today. Last year, annual interest costs on US debt service were not $1 trillion, as they are estimated now to be approaching. Oh, and last year was not an election year.
I think you will find our Program on May 23rd as strong as any. Our “stacked card” is composed of incredibly talented Speakers who bring tremendous depth of knowledge on complicated subject matters. I am so thankful they’ve taken up my offer to be a part of this mission driven event.
AI Got Nothin’ on US
We live in truly unstable, interesting, and dynamic times. Technology is a driving force – in markets, medicine, transportation, in how we work and play. One of our panels is entitled “The AI Era, Reframing the Discussion on Risk and Optionality”. I really like the title and it will provide for an open-ended discussion about the promise of new technology. But as powerful as AI is, it’s got nothing on US. MacroMinds is about US – about the incredible power of human connection at a time when personal relationships have been disintermediated by technology. I say that person to person interaction is not just good business, it’s good for the soul.
Connection and Collaboration
Please join us for what promises to be a “Thought Leadership Convention”. We’ve got plenty of time planned for meeting new people and reconnecting with industry colleagues. Bring your energy and your best, out of consensus ideas. There will be folks across all the asset classes ready to engage and exchange views. We’ll cap off the event with a very social cocktail reception. Talk about long optionality!
Two Closing Quotes from Ben and the Why of MacroMinds
One of my favorite quotes is from Ben Franklin who, in espousing the power of compound interest, said, “money makes money, and the money, money makes, makes more money”. He also said, “an investment in knowledge pays the best interest”. MacroMinds is about our community coming together to support students. By making this investment in knowledge together, we pave the way for these students to experience the power of compounding.
Ways to Get Involved
We’ve been generously supported over the course of our first 3 events. We’d welcome you or your firm’s involvement as a Sponsor at any level. I’d be happy to meet over Zoom to tell you more!
Sincerely, Dean
Founder, MacroMinds Foundation